I’ve blogged a few times in the past about how much I love grinder’s. I’ve also gone over the whole spiel about my Mancino’s memories. For those of you joining me at SWM-Dining, here’s the short story.

Growing up, a new pizza joint moved in to Bourbonnais, Illinois near where I grew up. My family, not being very adventurous, almost always ate at fast food and chains…actually, this is something they still do. Anyway, a shop called Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders opened up. We ate there often. All four of us were fans of these new toasted sandwiches. When I moved to Peoria, there was a store called Bellacino’s…..that served the same menu. Again, I ate there a few times and loved every minute of it. When we moved to Lansing, we found more stores with the Mancino’s name on them.

Now, I’m going to be honest. I’ve never been able to figure out if all them are connected or, if they are, how. They all have the same name, the same food, and the same menu, but I cannot find one stinking website that lists all three cities. Hell, all three stores have a different name.

Call me lazy. I’m not completely proud of the fact that I’ve now eaten two fast food meals in a row, but once again, I’m trying to make as much money as possible, so going cheap on the lunch is a necessary evil. I would much rather eat like this alone and be able to spend a little more when I go out with J.

Work day number two in Lansing started around 1:30. I didn’t eat before going to work because I knew our lunch break was going to be pretty soon after we got to the job site. Once we were released around 2:45, I headed to Frandor because I wanted to look at Staples for something. After that was complete, it was on to lunch. Sure, I had a bunch of options in Frandor, but since I was going to eat fast food anyway, I decided to go to a place I really like.

The Arby’s near the Frandor Shopping Center is located on Homer Street. Because Homer is a one way street, there is also a back entrance from Clippert Street which is where I was coming from. The building sits pretty close to Homer. There is a huge parking lot in back and a few slots on the sides. I took one of the side spots

Eating alone at Arby’s must have been the thing to do. There were a number of solo diners in the restaurant when I got there. Like almost every other fast food chain, I have a predictable order. I get the sandwich they used to call “The Big Montana.” Now, it’s just a large roast beef. I got the combo and made it a large. That’s not something I usually do, but I didn’t know if or when I would get to eat again, so I needed to load up. Read the rest of this entry »

I know. I know. Another chain. J and I had made plans earlier in the week to only eat out once. Tomorrow. Something came up and J wanted to run to Frandor. Neither of us had eaten lunch yet and we wouldn’t get back home in time to eat before she had to be at work, so we just ate while we were out.

J has always been a big fan of Panera Bread. Me, not so much. When we lived in Peoria, J worked long hours on Saturday and would usually stop at a Panera for at least one meal. Before we started dating, she almost lived there.

The Panera Bread in Frandor has a physical address on North Clippert, but it’s actually on the interior of the shopping center. It sits on a corner connected to the same building that houses Kroger. It’s much smaller than most of the other Panera’s I’ve been in. From the beginning, I felt a little crowded. Usually, Panera has separate areas for the cafe and bakery. I didn’t see that here.

When you walk in, the order counter is right in front of you. The bakery section is off to the right side of the counter. There were four cash registers, but only two open. We waited for the next available cashier, but that wasn’t good enough for a lady who walked up after us. She wanted us to pick a line in hopes we would pick the longer line so she didn’t have to wait as long to get her coffee. Read the rest of this entry »

J rarely gets a holiday off, but this year, she actually got to celebrate Memorial Day. We spent the morning running errands and ended up in East Lansing. When it came time for lunch, I asked what she was in the mood for. She said she didn’t care, but Mexican sounded good. Last week, when we were in Frandor getting her ring sized, I noticed a Los Tres Amigos tucked into a tiny strip mall outside of the Frandor shopping center. Since we had to head back that way, it’s what I chose for lunch.

Los Tres Amigos Express is on Clippert Street between Saginaw and Grand River. It’s easy to miss if you’re not looking for it and it took a few times around the block to get in the right parking lot. Once we did get parked, we questioned whether this was a sit down restaurant or a take out. You can’t see anything from the door, but once we got inside, we found tables along with an order counter, so you can sit an eat.

While there is an order counter, we were told to take a seat and the waiter would be right over. Los Tres Amigos Express isn’t really decorated like a Mexican restaurant. It’s pretty bland and could pass for just about any take out place. It looks like you used to order your food directly from the kitchen and kind of did the assembly line thing, but that’s not the case anymore. We grabbed a table and looked over the paper menus on the table while our waiter got the Cokes and we snacked on the complimentary chips and salsa. I really like Los Tres’ salsa. It’s a smooth salsa that’s got a little bit of a kick. It’s kind of a happy medium between what I like and what J likes. Read the rest of this entry »

Another one of those days were I was up long before I wanted to be. I had to work downtown again fairly early. As I was wrapping things up, I got a text from J. She was at a jewelry store in Frandor getting her ring re-sized (I was off by half a size). Since she had some time to kill, she asked if I wanted to meet her for lunch. I was just going to grab something on Washington Square, but meeting J sounded like a better idea.

When I got to Frandor, she was waiting for me and suggested Panera. I like Panera, but there’s still places I want to try in the area. Instead, we headed out of the shopping center a little way to a little strip mall just on the other side of the East Lansing city limits.

Lou & Harry’s Grill has three locations in the area. Two are in East Lansing and the third is Okemos. The store we hit up for lunch was the Saginaw Street store. The roads in this area are really messed up and if you’re not paying attention, it’s hard to get around. Coming out of Frandor, we had to take a left on to Coolridge Road to get into the parking lot.

Lou & Harry’s is part of a little strip mall. One end is anchored by Lou & Harry’s. The other by a Biggby. The Lou & Harry’s faces the Saginaw Street Grand River Avenue side on the building. You walk through a small outdoor patio to get inside. It was a pretty nice day and there were several people taking advantage of that. Read the rest of this entry »

Wings and the Super Bowl go together. It’s just a fact of life. For the last five or six years, I have slaved over a deep fryer for hours making wings for my friends on the day of the game. Every year, I’d come up with a new sauce or way to cook them. Last year, I skipped the deep fryer all together and went for baked wings. This year, I just wasn’t in the mood. I still wanted wings and have been craving them for days. My two choices were to make a trip to Kroger for wings and oil or let the professionals do all the work.

My favorite wing place, by far has always been Buffalo Wild Wings. It’s the one chain I don’t mind telling you that I love. When the company opened their first store in the Peoria area, I spent three or four nights a week there. I worked second shift and my buddies and I would hit B-Dubs after work for drinks and wings. Most Tuesday’s, our orders were waiting for us when we got there. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been told all three Lansing area Panera Bread will be participating in this and the funds they raise will go to the Mid-Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross…..

Panera Bread® to Celebrate Breakfast
With Free Cups of its New Coffee and Samples of New Products
Panera Bread to Support Local Communities by Raising Funds for Operation Dough-Nation® Recipients

Richmond Heights, MO, January 22, 2009 – Something big is brewing at Panera Bread and everyone’s invited. On Wednesday, January 28, Panera Bread bakery-cafes throughout the country are inviting customers to celebrate Panera’s new breakfast experience by sharing free cups of its new Light and Dark Roast coffees, as well as samples of its three grilled breakfast sandwiches and new Strawberry Granola Parfait.

To Share the Warmth with the local community, Panera Bread will also be inviting customers to donate a dollar on January 28 to help support its Operation Dough-Nation Community BreadboxTM program. Participating bakery-cafes will join the celebration by matching customer donations made on that day. Donations to Panera’s Community Breadboxes support local programs that address community needs. Through its Operation Dough-Nation effort, Panera Bread bakery-cafes collectively donated a retail value of more than $40 million worth of bread and baked goods in 2007 to charitable organizations helping to address the need for food distribution in its local communities.
“We are very proud of what we have achieved at breakfast at Panera,” said Ronald Shaich, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Panera Bread. “We’re looking forward to celebrating breakfast with our customers and joining them in supporting our local communities.”

Panera Bread has been working for more than two years to perfect its two unique new coffee blends — a Light Roast and a Dark Roast. The Light Roast Coffee is a new blend of some of the finest South and Central American beans, roasted lighter for a smooth, classic taste. The Dark Roast Coffee is a new blend of top Costa Rican beans, created for customers who prefer a robust, balanced, full-bodied coffee. All Panera Bread bakery-cafes will continue to carry its current Hazelnut and Decaffeinated coffee blends, as well as a selection of specialty Espresso and Espresso-based drinks expertly prepared by trained baristas.Read the rest of this entry »